London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

While Richard III is in no position to stipulate the type of funeral he would prefer after the discovery of his body in a Leicester car park, society priest Fr Michael Seed has his own firm opinion. Fr Michael, former adviser on ecumenism to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, is alarmed that an elaborate funeral using the Church of England rite is planned for Leicester Cathedral.

Says Fr Michael, now based in Cardiff: “Richard was born a Catholic. He predates the Reformation and the establishment of the Protestant faith in England. The fact that he was a Catholic should be recognised. He should have the same service he would have had in the 15th century. It might be difficult to find a priest who could celebrate the mass as it is pre-Tridentine and pre-Reformation, but nevertheless he was not a Protestant king but a Catholic one.”

Fr Seed, who famously converted to Roman Catholicism Ann Widdecombe, John Gummer and the Duchess of Kent, has received support for his view from Tory MP Chris Skidmore MP, Richard III’s biographer and an expert on the Battle of Bosworth. “I have called for a state funeral,” says Skidmore. “But at the very least there should be a solemn requiem mass for Richard III at Westminster Cathedral.”